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Monday, July 7, 2014

Vatican City, 7 July 2014 (VIS) –
This morning in the Holy See Press Office, the director, Fr. Federico
Lombardi, S.J., gave a briefing on the meeting of the Pontifical
Commission for the Protection of Minors and the Pope's encounter with
the victims of abuse, which took place on 6 and 7 July.

“On Sunday 6 July, all members of the
Commission met at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, coordinated by Cardinal
Sean Patrick O’Malley, O.F.M. Cap., with the collaboration of Msgr.
Robert Oliver at an organisational level”, said Fr. Lombardi, who
added that the issues under consideration were: “proposals for the
selection and appointment of new members, to integrate the Commission
with representatives from other geographical areas; the statutes of
the Commission; the need to institute an operative Office; the
possibility of organising working groups on specific themes with the
collaboration of specialists and other institutions”. He added that
time had also been dedicated to the preparation of the Holy Father’s
meeting with a number of victims, scheduled for the following
morning, 7 July.

The next meeting is scheduled to take
place during the month of October. It is hoped that new members of
the Commission will be present.

He went on the refer to the meeting of
the Pope on the morning of Monday, 7 July with various victims of
sexual abuse by members of the clergy. “The invitees were six
adults, three men and three women, from Germany, Ireland, and the
United Kingdom. Each victim was accompanied by a family member or
other companion. The invitation to meet the Pope had been made by
Cardinal O’Malley in several countries where there exists a Church
structure regarding the victims of sexual abuse”.

“The invitees arrived at the Domus
Sanctae Marthae by the afternoon of Sunday 6 July. While they were
dining in the refectory, the Holy Father appeared to address a first
brief greeting to them. The Pope first offered them a Mass,
celebrated in the Sanctae Marthae chapel at 7 a.m., attended also by
the companions, members of the Commission and a limited number of
other collaborators. The formula of the Mass was for peace and
justice.

During Mass, the Pope pronounced a
homily for them in Spanish; each participant was given a translation
of the text in his or her own language. After Mass, the Pope greeted
the individuals present, as usual”.

“After breakfast, the Pope received
the individual visitors, with their companions, for a private
personal discussion in a room in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, one after
the other.

The discussions lasted from 9 a.m. to
around 12.20 p.m. The participants, after the discussions, expressed
their emotion and their satisfaction at having been listened to by
the Pope with such attention and willingness”. The director of the
Holy See Press Office concluded, “the Pope showed that listening
helps to understand and prepare the way to reinstate trust, heal
wounds, and to open up the possibility of reconciliation with God and
with the Church”.